REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
Police stand guard outside the Brooklyn residence of Cathleen Alexis, mother of suspected Washington Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis, in New York, September 16, 2013.
- Asian markets were mostly lower. Japan's Nikkei was down 0.65%; Korea's KOSPI, 0.39%; and Hong Kong's Hang Seng, 0.31%. European markets were all lower, and U.S. futures were pointing south too.
- Investor sentiment has surged in Germany, according to new data from the ZEW survey. The indicator increased 7.6 points in September, to 49.6. The historical average print is much lower, at 23.8 points. It's not all good news in Europe though, with car sales dropping 5% in August, bringing deliveries down to their lowest level since record keeping began in 1990.
- U.K. consumer price index fell 2.7%, in line with economist expectations. Last month, Bank of England head Mark Carney introduced forward guidance, promising to keep interest rates low until U.K. unemployment drops below 7% (provided inflation readings stay within expectations).
- This morning at 8:30 A.M. we'll get the U.S. consumer price index for August. Economists are expecting the headline index to increase 1.6%, less than last month's 2% print.
- At 10:00 A.M., the September NAHB homebuilder survey will come in, shedding light on whether rising interest rates are impeding the housing market. Economists are expecting a reading of 59, the same as August. Any print above 50 indicates that more builders see sales as good rather than poor.
- Citing officials familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal's Carol Lee, Damian Paletta, and Jon Hilsenrath report that Janet Yellen is now the frontrunner for Federal Reserve Chair. The decision, officials said, will not come this week. On Sunday night, Larry Summers - who many saw as the sure favorite -withdrew his name, writing to the president that the confirmation process would be too "acrimonious."
- Although, there's one petty reason Obama might not nominate Yellen, reports Politico's Ben White. A "well-connected" source tells White that Obama might pick someone like former Fed Vice Chair Roger Ferguson. "If he is the pick the President could let it be known that he won't reward [Massachusetts Senator] Elizabeth Warren for sabotaging the Summers pick by giving the appointment to Warren's pal Yellen," the source told White.
- The new issue of TIME magazine mockingly displays a bull on its cover with a related story arguing how we are prone to another crash. Market watchers generally believe you should do the opposite of what mainstream magazines covers say, but it turns out that a bull on the front of TIME magazine has historically been bullish for the market.
- IBM is pouring in $1 billion to promote Linux, the open source operating system. In 2000, the company also spent $1 billion to convince customers to use Linux, and while the operating system has become the choice for the world's supercomputers, Microsoft still dwarfs it in reach.
- JPMorgan has agreed to pay $800 million and admit wrongdoing to settle allegations surrounding last year's "London Whale" $6 billion trading loss, Dealbook's Ben Protess and Jessica Silver-Greenberg report. The bank is facing a laundry list of other legal challenges too.